Unstoppable destiny
by darkbrotherhoodforever
Summary: "I didn't choose this for myself! This isn't what i am!" Born to save Skyrim, but thrown into a life that's unfitting for a hero. (Can't give to much! Might spoil things! Enjoy) Rated M For the later chapters! (OH and don't forget to review, it means a lot!)
1. Bandits: chapter 1

A crisp cool breeze cuts through the air past my face. I sigh inwardly and pull my left knee closer to my body, swinging the right leg over the edge of where I sit. The trees below me wave gently with the breeze that's continuing down the valley. A bit of my long brown hair wisps into my face and i'm forced to move my hand to get the hair out of my face. I let go of my leg, letting it swing by down by the other. reaching to my right I grab my knapsack and hoist in closer. I untie the strands holding it close and rummage through it. The soft torn edges of A rolled up paper brush my fingertips. Taking the scroll out i place my sack back off to the side. Unrolling the paper I take a look at my map, the mountains and rivers marked carefully on the parchment.

"This..over here" I mumble to myself as my finger traces the river up towards the thicker forest areas. a shuffle from behind me alerts my attention, sighing I lay my hands over the maps surface. "You didn't really think you could sneak up on me, did you?" I toss the words over my shoulder to the approaching figure.

"No I guess not, but it didn't hurt to try" My closest friend plops down next to me, little bits of dirt and rock are tossed over the edge. He casts a glance down at the paper under my fingers. "you're studying that map again" his words come out like a statement, but I can hear the mocking question behind it. My fingers arch protectively over the map.

"Yes I am" state flatly.

"Why? What could possibly draw you to study it so often?" he motions to it as if I didn't know what we were talking about.

"I want to remember it, to know Skyrim so well I won't need a map one day" He looks away from me and to the land in front of us.

"You want to leave again, don't you.." His voice laced with knowing. Nodding my head slowly I answer.

"Yes, I do, i don't see anything here for me in this city" he doesn't answer me, just stares ahead without actually looking. "Time and time again you have convinced me to stay, but I can't anymore, I won't go back to the orphanage, I refuse to, So maybe the world holds something better out there for me" I look over at him.

"you're only 10, the world doesn't hold anything more than danger and death for you at this age. Please don't be leaving just yet. stay longer, maybe another year is all" his voice turns to pleading, my heart melting in my chest at his pity. I lower my head and nod sadly.

"you're right, why do you have to always be right?."He places his hand on my shoulder.

"Because if I wasn't right then you might just be out there in the world right now, a corpse, and I can't let that happen" I look over at him smiling, the sun is starting to set, the light hits his golden hair and his green eyes stare intently at me. I lean forward as he goes to look forward again after a moment, and kiss him lightly on the cheek. Even in the fading light I see the color of his cheeks fluster.

" Thanks for caring" I murmur softly. He chuckles and then stands up, holding out his hand I take hold and he pulls me up.

"Best get back into the city before it gets too dark" he rubs the back of his neck. I nod, walking next to him back to the city. The guards nod passively at us as we enter the dimly lit cobblestone roads of the city. My friend waves goodbye to me reluctantly before heading off to his home. I stand there looking up at the sky as the clouds begin to roll in, the snowflakes come twirling down quickly as soon as I head towards the hell that is the orphanage.

As days pass the snow builds up, the normally filthy streets are covered with white. The morning light glitters on the piles of snow in the street. I pad through the white towards the middle of the city to meet up with my friend. People pass by on their way to or from errands. I sit waiting near a fire in the square, hours pass as my hopes of seeing him drop lower and lower. Around the end of the day as people are heading home I see the golden blonde hair of my friend bobbing past heading towards the palace of this kings area. Throwing myself from my place of waiting, I race after him. I toss myself onto his back expecting his playful retaliation. Instead I find myself thrown roughly from him without a word. He keeps walking, acting like nothing had happened.

"Hey, what in shors name was that?" I yell after him.

"go away, I have no time for you" he waves his hand towards me dismissively. I pick up a glob of snow and chuck it at the back of his head, the snow poofs into his hair and he stops. Turning around he stalks back to where I am standing.

"Don't you dare do anything like that to me ever again". I recoil at the harshness in his voice.

"What the hell is wrong with you, you were so different yesterday". He chuckles at me statement

"yes well as you probably don't realize yesterday was yesterday, this is today".

"Why are you being so rude to me all of a sudden, yesterday you care more than this" I stammer unable to comprehend why he is acting like this.

"Care? You thought I cared about you? Think again, I only convinced you to stay because we can't have all the citizens of the city leaving all the time" He sneers at me. I shudder uncomfortably at his attitude towards me. "I don't want to see you anymore, you're not my friend so don't believe that I am yours" His words slice at soul, I squeeze my eyes shut holding back the tears.

"Fine. All you've ever done is hold me back anyways" Turning away from him I start to walk away when from the silence breaks the warning horn. Fire lights up the area as men on horseback storm though the gates of the city. Battle cries roar forth as the bandits break up and scatter throughout the city. I back away slowly in shock as a man on horseback runs at me with his sword drawn. Before he reaches me an arrow is shot into his chest, the man lets out a dying yell and falls off the horse. Lunging forward I grab the sword from the snow, I hurry to my feet trying to brandish the sword in defense. All around me I heard people yelling and screaming, The guards are hurrying to take out the people they can, Blood stains the fresh fallen snow. My heart is racing in my chest, but stops when I hear My friend cry out behind me. I spin around to see a man grabbing his arm, I move forward with the sword behind the man. Without stopping I plunge the sword down into the man's back, a soft warm spray of his blood hits my face, my fingers slip off the sword as the man falls forward into the snow dead. My eyes stare widely down at the man whose life I have just taken. I raise my head slowly looking at my friend, his green eyes stare in disbelief at me, before he can say anything a cry of fall back sounds from the bandits leader. men and horses race past towards the gate, as the last are passing a hand grabs my arm. Time slows as I feel the yanking upwards into the air, my friend moves to grab me, but he's to slow. I'm yanked onto the horse with one of the bandits and taken farther and farther. My friend screams out to me in vain his voice passing my mind

"Sayrin!" I watch from the confines of the man's grip on me as Windhelm retreats farther and farther from my view. All I can do is whisper a goodbye.

"Grow to be a good jarl Ulfric, I know you have it in you" A lone tear rolls down my face as i'm taken away from the life I always told myself I hated.


	2. Found him: chapter 2

8 years later

I wandered close to the large stone arches of the Bleak Falls Barrow, the cold touch a strike to the heat within my armor. I closed my eyes and listened to the babbling of the bandits I was traveling with. "Hey Rin are you coming?" one of the bandits, Murh, yelled back to me, I pulled away from the black stone pillar and headed up to follow them. "So what are we here for again?" I asked one of the men. "Seems an ex-bandit of our has stolen a golden claw, word is the reward for it is more than it's worth" he nudged me happily. "Sounds like a good deal, well what are we waiting for?" I pushed him back before hurrying up the stairs ahead of them. Big black doors stood in front of me, grasping the large metal ring on the door I heaved it open. Quiet jabbering caught my attention. "Shh, seems we aren't the only ones here" I motioned forward towards the sounds, The man to my left nodded and moved ahead of me. Sure enough two bandits not of our own sat around a fire arguing if the robber they came with is coming back. Drawing my own iron sword i moved quickly to one of them behind a rock, my Murh moved to the area behind the girl. As he nodded we sprung from our hiding places and slashed them before they had a chance to move. Standing up I grasped a piece of cloth from the man's armor and wiped off my blade. "Let's get moving, no telling how far ahead he might have gotten already" tucking the sword back into its sheath I head into the tunnel leading farther down into the barrow. As we head down the lack of obstacles starts to prick at the back of my neck. "Somethings not right, why is there nothing here to stop us..?" I rub the back of my neck unrue if we should continue. "Hey, Rin calm down, not all places need to challenge us all the time" Murh shrugs "We shouldn't be stopping though, c'mon we need to keep going" Walking ahead of me, me and the other man follow behind. Soon enough we hear cries of help echoing through the halls. "Hello? Guys did you come back for me? I didn't mean to insult you! please come help me out!" A large cobwebbed door blocks our path, I reach out and yank a few of the sticky strings out of the way. Easily pushing through the rest, the three of us find ourselves in a large cavern like room. Ahead there is yet another cobwebbed door, but this one contains a man strung up in it. "Well looks like we've found our man, huh?" I speak over my shoulder to Murh. He nods and walks forwards, stopping abruptly when a few pebbles fall from the ceiling right in front of his feet. Slowly looking up, we find ourselves under a huge frostbite spider. The scraping of its claw's on the ends of it's legs cause a deafening screech. "Run!" I scream at the top of my lungs while slipping sideways trying to get out of the way. I watch as Murh leaps off to the side as the huge beast come crashing to the floor with a ground shaking thud. Scrambling I try and grab my sword from its sheath. Feeling no handle I look to my sword, _**no it's not in its sheath! Wher-**_ My gaze whips over to the spider. My sword lays glinting on the floor beneath the spiders large body. "Rin move!" Murhs order snaps me back to attention as I realize the spider is heading straight for me. Moving quickly I rush over to the wall where the hollowed out spaces for corpses line the face. Grasping the hard stone wall I desperately hurl myself upwards trying to climb as quickly as possible. The spider's long claw leg scraps the back of my leg as I pull my body into one of the crevices. It's large pinches come up level with my hiding space, my breath quickens as I hear the creatures pinches mushing the poison up to spit at me. Well this is it. _**Death by a frekin spider, great, why couldn't I die in a glorious battle with a honorable enemy.**_ The inhale of the spider getting reading to launch death at me tenses my body up. _**Soverngard awaits me.**_


	3. Onward:chapter 3

I wait for the pain, but it doesn't come, instead a large screeching sound comes from the spider. Light floods the crevice i'm in as the creature's body suddenly isn't blocking the way. Rolling towards the edge, the spider has been drawn to a different target. Murh spars forward at the beast slashing at the vulnerable joint of it. Before I can believe he has control of the situation he is knocked backwards by one of it's legs. I spring into action throwing myself my the crevice onto the hard stone floor. I scream in pain as my wounded leg hits the ground, but I drag myself forward desperate to save Murh. Reaching as far as I can my fingertips brush the hilt of my blade, I toss myself forward just enough to grab the sword. I stagger upward as the creature brings itself over the top of Murh to cause a killing blow. Fighting the pain that tears at my soul with every effort, I throw my body onto the spiders back, using my weight I drive the blade through the spiders armored body. It lets out another horrifying screech and spins around, it barrels into me pushing me back before collapsing to the floor. I slump down wards, my chest heaves with exhaustion, From the left I see Murh yank himself up and run over to me.

"Hey you ok? You all there?" He lifts my chin up and turns me head back and forth to check. Holding my hand up feebly I give him a thumbs up. He shakes his head at me "By the gods you're such a liar" he carefully moves down to my leg and inspects it. "It cut you pretty bad, i'll have to wrap it before we can go on" He moves away from me over to our fallen comrade,

 _ **i'm not quite sure when he died, probably while I was in the crevice..**_

I put my hand to my head shaking it in disappointment at myself. Murh returns to me with some cloth he's ripped from our partners supplies. Gingerly lifting my leg up, I can tell hes trying to be gentle, but none the less I toss my head back onto the wall behind me in pain. As he finishes up he moves back up to me.

"Do you think you can walk?" I look at my screwed up leg

"I might be able to, it's too bad we didn't find any healing potions.." I chuckle darkly at the thought. He nods in agreement. I look up at murh, his green eyes stare back at me. Pushing forward from the rock I lean forward and kiss him. At first he doesn't react, but then he places a hand behind my head and kisses me back. A feeling of warmth fills my soul until a loud awkward cough interrupts us.

"So uh...yeah..i'm still here…" I bite my lip at our forgetfulness, And Murh pulls back, standing up. He puts out a hand to me and I take it as he pulls me up to my feet. Staggering over to the man still strung up on the wall I question him.

"So Arvel..Where is the claw?" Arvel stares in disbelief for a moment before horror crosses his face.

"Oh no. No. You aren't here to help me at all! You're from that damned bandit clan...what was it..the..uh..hmm...forbidden! That's it! No doubt your leader sent you. Didnt he" The dark elf spits on Murh in disgust. Murh pulls out his blade and approaches close to Arvel

"Why yes he did, and he's his present to you" With that Murh pulls his axe blade across the elf's throat. The red sips down the webs holding him tight and onto the stone floor. "Cut him down so we can retrieve the claw" I motion to Arvel's unmoving body's prison. Murh obliges and cuts the webs away, Arvel's body slumps down to the floor in a heap. I bend down carefully and rummage through Arvel's knapsack. Touching cool metal I pull out the claw triumphantly, The gold glitters in the little light that the cave has. Tucking the claw away in my own pack I move forward with Murh close behind with his axe drawn.


	4. Reward:chapter 4

After a series of blunders with the wonderful draug that inhabited this barrow we made it to a large circular door. "What is Talo's name is this thing?" Murh walks up to it inspecting it carefully. He pulls on a large stone ring on the door. A loud Grinding noise emanates from the circle as it changes from a bear imprint to an owl. I watch as he tugs and pulls on the door, I notice a small series of imprints on the door in the smallest circle in the middle. Opening my pack I pull out the claw, the palm of the claw has three small circles, each one a different animal. "Murh! Look at this" I stagger over to him quickly, turing the claw to him so her can see the animals. He stares a moment before turning to the door, grasping the rings he turns them once more until they look like the ones on the claw. "Here, hand me the claw" Placing the golden object in his hand he places it in the small indents, he pushes it in and turns it. Grumbling scraping noises come from the door, startling Murh, he jumps back. The ground near the door rumbles as it slides down in the ground. A large cavern sits open ahead of us. We move as quickly as I can into the cave, A small bridge goes over a creek. Just ahead seems to be and old stone altar with an important looking coffin at the front. A curved wall lies just behind it with some sort of language scribbled into it. Murh walks up the stairs and over to the coffin, as he inspects it, I hobble over to the strange writing. Chanting floats into the back of my mind, The wall draws me near to it, I feel unable to stop myself from going to it. One word on the wall seems to jump out to me, begging me to touch it. I gingerly reach out to the word and touch it. On contact a surge rushes through my body, I let out of wail of agony, the shock travels through my body and swirls in my head. A simple word lands in my mind, _Fus,_ and the shock is gone. I feel Murh's hands on my shoulders quickly. "Are you ok?" urgency fills his voice. "Uh, Yeah..Just..must have been booby trapped it all.." He helps me up, _**Fus..What could that mean? I've never heard that before in my life, and what the hell was with that power surge?**_ As I wrack my brain for answers a popping noise brings our attention to the coffin. The lid flies off of the tomb and a draug climbs out. "That..isn't a normal draug.." I mumble wide eyed. "No it's not. It's a draug deathlord" His voice is ice to my ears, A bad enemy for us to face, especially with me in a bad position to fight. Yet i draw my blade and step up next to him. "Don't, your leg can't take this" Murh yells at me. "I don't care, i'm not going to let you fight alone and have all the fun" I smirk at him. "God you're always so stubborn" He shakes his head before charging forward at the deathlord. I move from the right, attacking the vulnerable positions, The deathlord moves swiftly blocking many hits, but taking many injuries of his own. It's as he drops to his knees that I know our team work has taken him down faster than it would if you were alone. Murh steps out of the way to let me finish him off. I step in front of the deathlord and swing my blade down hard, his head rolls at my feet, his eyes staring up, but not seeing anything any more. I slide my sword away before crouching the best i can to search him. A few good things are found, a couple garnets, some gold, and some tablet that looks important. "It might be useful for something. I'm bringing it with" I cross my arms and look at Murh. "Fine, fine bring your new rock" he raises his hands up in the air before turning to a set of stairs that head upwards to a small hallway. A handle on a pedestal sits by a wall, grasping it, he pulls it up and twists. The rock wall in front of us shifts and moves downwards into the floor. Leaping down the small drop that the door led us to, we see a crevice that appears to lead outside. Noding too Murh to go we head back out into the wilds of Skyrim.

"Well they weren't lying about the reward being more than the cost itself" I chuckle as we head out of the Riverwood trader. Murh nods in agreement as he watches me tuck away the 400 septiums that we had gained. "Probably should head back to the others now, huh?" Murh asks me. "Yeah I agr-" I stop mid sentence as a old woman down the road starts yelling to a man nearby. "I saw it a dragon!" "Mother stop, people are going to think you're crazy" the man motions his hands down to try and calm his mother. "You have to believe me! I saw it, it flew off over the barrow towards whiterun!" she insists again at her son. "Mother please, we will discuss this inside" he hurrys to his mother trying to usher her inside. "I hope the dragon kills us all! Then you'd see I wasn't lying" The two then disappear into the house. I glance over to Murh, my eyes narrow, but he shakes his head in disbelief. "What a poor woman, gone mad, her son must have his hands full". I glance down to the ground "I'm not sure, as crazy as she may be what if it turns out that she's not such a senile old bat?" Murh shrugs his shoulders at me. "Well even if it is, what are we supposed to do about it?". I twist my left hand in my right, thinking. "Well the woman said it flew over the barrow towards whiterun. We are heading that way anyways, why not stop by the city and tell the jarl?" His face clouds over at the thought before he answers "That sounds so helpful. That's not exactly our area of business.." He waves his hands around in the air in disbelief. "yeah, i know, very aware of that here, But what if we could get a reward from it….Or maybe even snag a few prizes?" I scoot closer to him nudging him sideways. "Damnit, you're right. Let's go" He spins on his heels and heads down the trail heading out of riverwood. Limping as fast as I can, I catch up with him as he's heading under the archway. The trail isn't long, but with my wound it takes a bit longer than normal. As we are reaching the gates of Whiterun Murh clears his throat.

"So, you still want to go and do this?"

"Yes, I think it could hold good rewards for us" he nods and heads up to the gates only to be stopped by a guard.

"Halt, The city is closed due to the dragon attack, no visitors" I hurry up to the guard trying to talk fast.

"That's why we are here, we have important news from Riverwood about the dragon attack" The guard stares at me a moment before stepping aside.

"Alright, You may go in, the Jarl is up in Dragonsreach on top of the hill, he will want to hear from you" The guard walks away towards the other guards leaving Murh and I in front of the large wooden door. I don't say anything as I push the large door open and head inside the walls of Whiterun. The city is cheerful, children run around play tag and I spy a market at the other end of the Trail. Following the stoney trail I pass many people, they greet us with hellos and welcomes. Murh and I don't respond to the people, instead turning our heads away. I pick up my pace as much as I can, we reach the stairs that lead to an upper area of Whiterun. A large tree sits in the middle of a small arched sitting area. Walking around the tree we reach yet another set of stairs, as we head up, the yelling of a man proclaiming Talos echos through the city.

"He must really believe in his cause" Murh motions down the stairs to the man by the statue of Talos.

"Yeah, he's most likely on the side of the stormcloaks then"

"Silly war is what it is, but it's none of our concern. No matter what happens there will always be people for us to rob" I nod in agreement as we reach the top of the stairs. The doors to dragonsreach stare us in the face. Murh passes me and head up to the door, opening them and leading me inside. The bright glow of firelight danced on the beams of the palace, I hobbled up the stairs. A dark elf came rushing towards me from the throne side of the jarl.

"What is your business here? The Jarl is not expecting any visitors at this time" She held her blade out defensively towards me. Unfazed I answered calmly.

"I have news of the dragon attack" The Elf immediately lowers her sword and turns away motioning me to follow her. Approaching the throne the elf approaches the Jarl and whispers to him.

"Ahh, thank you Irileth. I Am Jarl Balgruuf, my housecarl, Irileth, informs me you have information on the dragon attack?"

"Yes that is true sir"

"How is it you came by this information?"

"The people of river wood saw a dragon coming from the direction of Helgen, It passed over Bleak Falls Barrow and appeared to be heading this way" From Balgruuf's side his steward started stuttering.

"Sir, but a dragon..she can't be serious!"

"Calm down Avenicci, you won't be one to fight it" Balgruuf's voice booms towards his meek steward. His attention turns back to me. "You, I have one other task for you if you're interested" I turn towards Murh, gauging from his reaction he wants to get out of this city right now. Before I can answer The Jarl he continues. "There is a reward in it for you" Murh's eyes light up at the thought of a reward. Facing back to Balgruuf I nod quickly accepting his proposal. "Come right this way then. My court wizard, Farengar, Has been researching and studying the..dragon attacks" His voice is laced with a tone of disbelief as if he can't grasp the events. We enter a small room on the left wall side of his throne. A man in mage robes is rushing around digging through piles of papers. "Uh, Farengar.."

"I'm busy. To busy come back later" Farenagr waves his hand dismissively.

"Farengar. I've brought you help for your little problem quest" he points to Murh and I standing farther back by the door. Finally the man comes to an abrupt halt.

"So Bulgruuf thinks you can help me with my problem, huh?" I nod my head slowly feeling an awkward tension in the air. "Well I don't need hired sword for this quest, so no you can't help" He crosses his arms angrily.

"Would you just tell us what your problem is instead of acting childish?" Murh's annoyed voice speaks up from behind me. Farengar's exasperated sigh starts his sentence.

"I need someone to go and retrieve a specific artifact from the Bleak Falls Barrow" He talks slowly to us like we don't understand him. A grumble behind me from Murh let's me know he's coming to an end of patience with this man.

"Please continue on, what is this artifact?" placing my hand out in a circular motion, asking him to explain. Farengar's attitude seems to soften up with my kinder approach to the situation at hand.

"What I am looking for is a large stone tablet, it is called the dragon tablet. It is a key component to my research and i need it as soon as I can" I furrow my brow thinking back to the Barrow. _**Wait, A stone tablet. With inscriptions? Large stone..stone..tablet..wait that's right! I have it! My useless rock as Murh called it, this might be what Farengar is looking for.**_ 'You looked excited all of a sudden, do you know anything of the tablet?" He questions my excitement.

"Yes I do! At least I think I do" I drop my knapsack onto the floor and kneel by it. Opening the top I can see the grey stone just peaking out. grasping it with both hands i pull, i put my foot on the bottom of my bag and yank. The stone comes out of the bag and I roll onto my back. I lift the stone up above me from the floor. "Is this it" I speak in a strained tone.

"Why you already have it! Amazing! You're different from the normal brutes that Bulgruuf throws at me" He clasps his hands together.

"Yeah that's great, but do you, uh, think you could take the tablet before I drop it on myself?" My arms are starting to shake at the weight above me. Unclasping his hands, Farengar hurries over and takes the stone from me. It clunks on his table and he stares at it intently.

"So a reward?" Murh mentions after a few seconds.

"Oh yes, well you will have to talk to Balgruuf about that"

"Do you have anything for a frost spider wound, while i'm here?" I get up from the floor, my leg reminding me of pain. Farengar looks up from the tablet.

"Why yes I do" he reaches under the table and tosses a healing potion my way. "Now then you two are dismissed, go now" Murh and I walk out of the room, back out into the main dragonsreach dining hall.

"So the Jarl will be rewarding us then?" I motion towards the throne, Murh nods and heads towards the throne area. A hand grabs my arm from behind, another hand on the other side. 'Hey, what is this!" I try to yank away from the guards that have taken ahold of me, up ahead Murh is in the same situation. I pull away and ram a guard in the gut, trying to sprint away gets me to the stairs. I trip as I get close and hit the floor, Tumbling down the stairs I land in heap at the bottom. My leg screams in agony and I voice that pain loudly from the floor. Rushed feet come down the stairs and grab me, hoisting me up. I'm dragged back up the stairs, my leg dragging up, each step throbbing. Murh is kneeling on the ground by the throne, a guard's hand hold his head downward. I'm dragged up next to him, Irileth come up in front of us.

"I knew I didn't like you for a good reason when you walked in" she paces back and forth in front of us.

"What are you talking about?" Murh gurgles, a stream of blood trickles down from his mouth.

"You two are bandits, we got word of a robbery that led my men up to Bleak Falls Barrow. only two of the 6 men returned. They claimed there was a group of bandits up there" She stops in front of me grabbing my chin and forcing me to look at her. "You could have gotten away, but luckily for me I overheard you telling Farengar that you had just been there" she tosses my face sideways. "You sick bandits can finally get your reward you came for" She motions to her men. A hard thud resonates in my head. The darkness starts to fall in font of my eyes, the floor comes quickly as I slam against it. Murh you were right..I should have listened..damn you whiterun..I wish I could be home..I..I miss home..I miss you..


	5. Hot yet cold:Chapter 5

**Clank. Sir it's . Sighted .Clank. Dragon! Clank.** The steady sound rouses me from the darkness. "What...Where am I…." I snake my hand to my head trying to stop the immense throbbing that beats on my brain. Slowly opening my eyes I see grey stone floor, cracked and tinted with a light red. _**What is that red?**_ My eyes open wider as I realize the red is blood. I sit up fast, too fast because my head starts spinning. _**Ah god...this isn't right. where am I?**_ Pulling my hands away from my face I take a look around me at the surroundings. My heart sinks as it all hits me. _**I'm in jail. great. Of course I am, that damned dark elf just had to be so smart, and what was the other part she said to us?..No wait not to us..people were yelling, but not about us..the dragon? Yes the one I warned them about probably**_ Placing my hand on a bed to my right I gingerly push myself up into standing. My leg wobbles under me from all the abuse it's taken. Hobbling over to the bars of my cell I take hold of the smooth metal. Even though I know that it is pointless I still yank on the bars hoping that they will break away. When they don't I place my head against the metal rods, sighing in defeat. A painful groan comes from the cell next to me.

"Hello? Who's over there?" I call out, pressing my face closer to the bars hoping I can see.

"Rin is that you?!" A panicked question comes from the cell next to mine. Relief washes over me when I realize it's Murh next to me.

"yeah it's me, quite a place we've got ourselves in, huh?" I try to chuckle at my joke, but all that comes out is a disappointed sigh.

"Tell me about it, we should have seen this kind of thing coming.." he trails off. I close my eyes picking at my soul.

"You did though. You knew it wasn't a good idea, but I didn't want to listen to you. We shouldn't be in here, we should be back with the others, enjoying an ale and some stories" I choke back my remorse.

"Don't say stuff like that. You wanted to help these people, that's all. Not normal for a bandit, but then again.." he stops, my mind swirls, questioning what he wanted to say.

"What is it? What do you mean then again"

"You've...never really..acted like the rest of us"

"Thats insane, I rob, pillage, and work as many sweep jobs as I can" My knuckles turn white as I grip the metal bars tighter. _**How can he say that! I work just as hard as all the other bandits, if not harder. He's got no place to tell me something like that. I can't beli-**_

"Yes you do. But you don't carry them out with the same attitude we do. Maybe the other havn't noticed, but i've been working with you long enough to know that you still care about other people."

"No I..I..don't..I do the same..as..all of you.." my words become choked up in my throat as i try to defend myself.

"In the Barrow you were worried about me getting hurt. I saw that you looked sad when our comrade died in battle. A normal bandit wouldn't think twice about another, he would just save his own skin."

 _ **He's..he's so right..but i've always tried so hard to be like them. This is who I am now, I can't be anyone else. But wait..**_

"You saved me. You didn't try to run and save your own skin. You defended me and helped me even when I was clearly a burden" I hear the uncomfortable noise in his throat as he tries to answer.

"That's the problem in my life, you're starting to wear off on me..I shouldn't let you, but you do and i can't help it"

"You can't let me change you Murh"

"I try not to, but...I care about you.." I swallow the lump in my throat.

"Yes..I know you do.." I don't continue. I can't. "We need to get out of here" I respond instead. The silence cuts me, as I push back the sadness I feel for Murh. _**Don't think about it, we need to get out. Now. No telling if there's a big enough bounty on our heads for execution, but I don't want to find out.**_ Letting go of the bars I turn back to the cell, there is a bed in the corner, a small night stand, and a dead prisoner in the other corner. _**By the nine they couldn't take the poor chap out of the cell after he died.**_ Trying to shake the tingling uncomfortable feeling I begin my search for a way out. I cast a glance out the cell to check for a guard. _**I don't see any guards out there either though..that's right the dragon they were yelling about! Balgruuf probably sent all his men to fight the damned thing.**_ I frantically moved through the cell, checking under everything I could. It was after I check everything that my gaze slowly slipped over to the body sitting in the corner. Holding back the lump in my throat I inched over to the body, it wasn't the first time I had robbed a corpse, but this one was way beyond normal decomposition. My fingers grazed the shrunken flesh of the man. The leathery feel accompanied by the cold lifelessness made me shiver. I snaked my hand into his first pocket. Nothing. Trying the next few I found nothing. Hanging my head in defeat I sat down near the corpse. I rolled my head to the side to look at the man, a glimmer lower down catches my eye. The tarnished silvery color of the item shown with my freedom. Prying the open the clutched hand of the corpse, I wrenched the lockpick from its grasp.

"Thank you" I murmured to the lifeless man before scurrying away towards the cell door. "Murh, I found a lockpick" I cried happily,but quietly, to him. No response echoed my joy, a cold feeling washed over me. Hurrying to the lock on the cell door, I carefully slide the lockpick in. Moving my wrist carefully I twisted the lockpick, listening to the trivial clicks of the tumblers. Click. _**Over to the right a bit**_. Click. _**Too far, back to the left.**_ Click. J _ **ust a hair more**_. Click. _**Yes!**_ My thoughts cheer at me, praising my work with a lockpick. I hurriedly open the cell door, and step into the open guard platform that watches all the cells. I rush over to the cell next to mine, Murh is lying on the floor in an unconscious heap. Reaching my arm through the bars I tap my hand against his face.

"Hey, Murh. Get up, com'on I can get you out, you just need to get up!" Grasping his shoulder I shake him. His head rolls to the side with a murmur. _**He's lost a good amount of blood.**_ Shaking my head I reluctantly let go of him, I stand up and turn my back to his cell. _**There has to be the keys for these cells somewhere in here.**_ Frantically hurrying over to a small table with a single chair I start rummaging through all the items I can find. I rip napkins open and throw them carelessly when they don't have the key in them, Placing both my hands on the table I slide them across the face of the wood, throwing everything off the table onto the floor. I drop to the floor on to the knees, tears well up in my eyes from the combined pain of my leg and my friend still trapped in his cell, slowly bleeding to death. In anger I lash out next to me, knocking the chair to my right over, My breath come out raggidly as I look over at the chair. My breathing stops as I see the cell door key strapped on the underside of the chair. I snatch the key off the chair happily, Pushing myself back to my feet, I run back to Murh's cell. It takes a few goes for me to get the key in the hole as I jam the ket at it again and again in my effort to get out of here fast. As the cell door swings open, I hear cheers coming from behind the doors that lead to the dragonsreach main hall.

"shit shit shit. They guards are back" I mutter angrily under my breath. Grasping Murh's arm I place it over my shoulders, hoisting him up I stagger out of his cell. "Our escape might take a bit Murh, we are gonna have to go the long way" Readjusting him almost causes me to fall. _**Damn my gimp leg, this could be so much easier if I wasn't wounded.**_ Half dragging him with me, we go to the door leading to what I hope isn't a passage to the main hall. As I push the door open A rushing wind sound stops me.

"What in the hell is that?" Murh drops from my grasp as my body is thrown across the room. "Arghhhh!" My hands grasp at the floor desperately, a strong wave of feels like heat, but at the same time is cold, takes hold of my body. I'm slipping down from the sitting position I was thrown into, my body writhes from the sheer pain. "Make it stop!" I realize i'm yelling, but I have no control over my body anymore, voices swirl in my head, yelling, talking, screaming at me. "Stop!" I stop writhing, I lay there on the cold stone floor unable to move, a soft voice speaks to me this time.

"Fus...fus...fus.." It speaks quietly, whispering the same word again and again. It seeps into my mind, soothing, understanding and then it's gone. My eyes shift from the left to the right cautiously, slowly I sit up, shaking like a person caught in a blizzard. A few tears slip down my cheeks and drop onto my hands. My right leg twitches, but there is no pain. I look down slowly, rolling up my pant leg. A gasp catches in my throat at smooth bronzed skin stares back at me. Gingerly touching where my gash had been I feel no pain. I lean back against the wall, slamming my head gently against it. I place my hands over my face, shaking my head back and forth, my hair whipping back and forth with it. What's going on? What in Talos name just happened! Removing my hands, my head flops gently to the side, staring across the room. A moment passes before my brain catches up to itself once more. Murh! I force myself to stop thinking about what happened and rush over to his body.

"c'mon we can't be here any longer, let's go" practically carrying my dying friend I drag us both out of jail and unknowingly into the waiting arms of a dangerous road.


	6. Foolishness Chapter 6

"Balgruuf, sir, we have successfully killed the dragon at the watchtower. The tower was destroyed and a few of the men were taken" Irileth kneels at the jarls feet.

"Your report comes as good news to me, but behind your words I can't help but feel that there is more to it than what you say" Balgruuf folds his hands across his lap in a expectational way.

"Can't ever slip anything past you my Jarl" Irileth stands up in front of him "It's a bit hard to understand what happened. We aren't really even sure what did happen" Her words come out dogey and unsure.

"Come woman, spit it out already" Impatience soaks his words to the core.

"Well..the dragon died, but it..it disintegrated..right in front of us" Her face is twisted as she tries to explain to him.

"It disintegrated?" His face scrunches up in confusion, his fingers strumming against the armrests of his throne

"Yes, it let out what we believe was a roar of pain, then dropped down. We were celebrating its death until it just started..lighting up. Its scales started shining bright and its body seemed to burn before us. Nothing was left, but the bones" She rubbed the back of her neck before continuing. "And..the men claim that they saw a glimmering light emit from the dragon and the disappear" Balgruuf's face freezes, slowly he look up into her eyes. "Sir, is there something wrong?"

"Irileth, I need you to send an order to the men. Keep an eye out for any activity that seems unnatural and inhuman"

"You mean like vampires or necromancers?"

"No, this will be different, you will know when you see it"

"Well what are we to do if we do see this 'strange' activity"

"I want you to report it immediately to me"

"Sir, you're acting very strange, what is going on?" she hurries over close to him.

"We must find the dragonborn" is all he mutters quietly almost unheard.

A wooden sign swings gently, the painted on enchanters cup with swirls coming coming from it, becoming worn from the weather. I drag my brown gaze down off the side and walk back behind the store.

"It's ok Murh, I found an alchemist store, I can get you all fixed up" I touch his cheek gently, his eyes open just a little bit, I lean over a bit and leave him with a quick kiss on his lips. His mouth curls into a small smile.

"Don't... to..l.l..long" he manages through gritted teeth.

"Shh, just don't go anywhere, i'll be right back"

" try..not to..go..an..anywhere" He meekly chuckles. My eyes soften on him and I stand up, slipping away back to the front of the store. The small wooden door makes a gentle creaking as I slip inside.

"Oh welcome! Here for scrolls? Potions? Ingredients? Lessons? maybe?" The woman is bright and chipper and won't stop talking.

"Hey. I just need some potions" I motion out my hands in a stop talking kind of way. I walk over to her counter that consists of all her items.

"Alright! You can pretty much anything you need here at Arcadia's Cauldron! What potion's do you need?" She slaps her hands down on the counter and leans forwards towards me. Leaning back from her a bit I answer her.

"I, uh, need some healing potions" Pointing to the red bottles on her counter.

"Going out on a journey and want to be prepared,huh, well that's quite the thing" rolling my eyes I don't answer the woman's rambling, Instead I work on getting out my pouch of gold. "Well now your total for 5 healing potions will be 100 gold" she places her hand out over the counter. God already spending 100 from the missions I just completed,must be a new record. I reach into the pouch and shift through my money, Grasping onto some coins I pull out a handful and count our 100 for her. The coins click in her hand as I take my potions from her. "Don't forget to come back if you ever need anything else" she calls out behind me as I leave her store. Around the back of the store I find Murh in the same place I left him.

"Here you need to drink these, they will make you better" I rip off the cork to the first one, placing it in his mouth I tip his head back. He feebly tries to push me back. "I know it doesn't taste the best, but you need to drink it" I carefully push his hand back down, tipping the bottle up, I make him finish it. As I pull back he sucks in air gagging at the taste.

"By the eight, I know I needed the damned thing, but don't you think they could taste better. It made me better, but it sure killed my sense of flavor" He sticks his tongue out dramatically trying to wipe the taste off of it. I reach out playfully slapping his arm.

"come now, we really must be off this time. Unless we should get in a predicament again for fun"

"Nope, not again, let's just hurry up and leave this stupid city" He waves his hands around frantically. "Help me up here" Raising his hands up in the air, he opens and closes them repeatedly like a child.

"Yeah ok, keep your pants on" I lock my hands with his and yank him up. He comes to his feet, wobbling around a bit. "Hey careful, it may have fixed you, but that doesn't mean you're gonna be perfectly good and ready to be and idiot again" He chuckles holding onto my shoulder for support.

"Well whatever my case may be, we still need to head to Windhelm as soon as possible" he reminds me.

"Yeah I know" I look at the ground "Why is the boss even there? Shouldn't he be back in Riften?"

"Oh you know the man, he's always off doing whatever he wants" He waves his free hand in a swirling motion."Yeah I know, I still find it funny how many people still get our line of work wrong"

"Well, we aren't exactly at the top of the most feared anymore" I mutter. He nods slowly in agreement before motioning towards the gates.

"Um, anyways, how are we supposed to leave without getting caught again?"

"I've got that covered" Reaching around to my knapsack I pull out some cloth.

"What are these?" Murh's appalled reaction causes me to giggle.

"They are hood-hats, they won't be suspicious because they work like a normal workers hat to keep the sun out of the face, but because of that it helps hide our faces from the guards" I plop one onto his head. He reaches up on his head and grabs it.

"Is this really the only way out of here?" his eyes beg me to say no.

"Yes, only way out" I pull my hat on and adjust it so they can't see my face. Looking at Murh I can see he's having trouble with his own. "By the gods, here let me help you" Reaching up I grasp his hood and pull it over his head and fix the mess he's made. "There, perfect. let's get out of here" he grumbles in response, but staggers behind me slowly, so he doesn't tip over. As the gate approaches my body slowly tenses up. We won't get caught. We can't, we just got out and we need to keep moving. Please don't let them stop us. I close my eyes and walk to the large gate and open the door. Fresh wind from the welcoming fields of Skyrim hit my face, I take in a deep breath and continue outside. The doors slam close with a wooden thud behind Murh and I. "We made it out" I breathlessly say.

"You didn't even know if it was gonna work?!" He spins looking at me wide-eyed.

"Shut up!" i slap my hand close over his mouth. "We aren't exactly away from the city yet so let's finish escaping before we go running our mouths" I whisper quickly to him. I remove my hand after he nods his understanding. We hurry down the trail towards the stables of Whiterun. "How much gold do you have?" I ask Murh.

"With me I have 600, why?"

"I have 400 left from the potions I bought, we need to buy a horse"

"Why not steal it? I mean that's what we do, we don't buy things"

"Yeah well this time we might have to, we can't hang around any longer and we can't wait for the stablekeep to leave so we can take the horse"

"Hmm, yeah you're right, here give me the gold i'll go get it" I toss him my bag of gold, he puts it together with his own then heads towards the stablekeep. I watch as he talks to the man, bargaining the price and then handing over our 1000 gold coins. The man leads Murh over to a black horse all saddled up and ready to go. Grabbing the reins he walks with the horse over to me. "Hop on" I swing myself up onto the horse, and Murh follows, becoming my backseat passenger. "Onward towards Windhelm then" He motions forwards. I nod and kick the horse forwards heading down the stoney trail. Yes onwards to home..back to..my past.


	7. darkness: Chapter 7

"Are we almost there?" I dragged along in the deep snow behind Murh.

"Well, you know, we would be there if someone hadn't killed the horse" he yelled sarcastically behind him. I sped up a bit, jumping over the powdery white, trying to catch up with him.

"Hey, I didn't know that it wouldn't be able to make that jump" I held up my hands in defense, he waved his hand back at me to tell me to shut up. I pouted my lips and crossed my arms, trudging after him in his footsteps. "How much farther than?"

"Should be right up over this hill" _**Right up over this hill. Will HE still be there, I..I don't want to see him, but I..do somewhere in my heart I still want to see him..**_ "There it is, the city of Windhelm" Murh had stopped at the top of the hill, causing me to crash into him. "you ok? Are you all there Rin?" He grasped my shoulders in his hands turning me to face him.

"Yeah, i'm all good" I fake a smile for him. He places his hand on my cheek.

"You shouldn't lie to me, you've been acting weird since we left Whiterun" He looks down into my eyes, his green gaze stirs the feelings inside of me, and brings back memories.

" _Ha! I beat the future Jarl of Windhelm. Bow to me!" I cry in triumph._

" _In your dreams" Ulfric springs forward knocking me from triumphant stance, onto the ground._

" _Hey that wasn't fair" I squeal trying to fight his hold. I look up at the boy holding me down, his goofy smile and bright green eyes make me stop squirming._

" _War isn't always fair" he smirks._

" _Well then, what if I did this" moving my arms quickly I break his hold and spring up, dashing away from him._

" _Come back!" his steps come rushing up behind me "We can call a truce!" he yells. I stop running, turning around I put out my hand._

" _Truce?" he looks down at my hand before taking it in his own and shaking it vigorously._

" _Truce!" his bright smile showing his pleased attitude. I plop down on a rock under a nearby tree, He leans against the tree, arms crossed over his chest. "Sayrin?" his voice breaks the calm silence._

" _Yeah?" I look up to him eyes questioning._

" _You're my friend right?" His tone seems worried._

" _Of course, why wouldn't I be?" I turn my whole body this time to him, wondering what hes going on about._

" _I just..I don't ever want to lose you" I close my eyes a bit, standing up, I walk over to him._

" _You won't, we won't just be friends ok? How about best friends?" I lean towards him, my hands behind my back and a playful look on my face. He starts to smile._

" _Yeah, best friends. Promise I won't ever lose you though?" His eyes drop into a desperate look._

" _You won't ever lose me. I swear!" I Hold out my hand again, but he doesn't shake my hand, instead he leans over and kisses me. I feel the blush in my cheeks as he pulls away._

" _Always remember that I care Sayrin. Always"_

"Uh, this is where I was from, this was my home. I'm just nervous to go back" Murh strokes my cheek.

"That's understandable, but it'll be ok, i'm right here next to you remember that" He pulls back his hands and heads on ahead of me. I swallow back my half-lie and follow him down the hill to the gates of Windhelm. The snow comes down in flurries as we cross the large bridge.

"God, it's always snowing here, It's never sunny it seems" I grumble unhappily at the skies.

"shouldn't you be used to this weather?" Murh asks as we walk.

"Well I wasn't born here, I was born in Hammerfell, remember?"

"Ah, right, I forget sometimes, your skin isn't the normal redguard shade, it's easier to think you're a nord sometimes" I roll my eyes at him, but agree with what he's saying. The guards make no eye contact as we walk past, just give us a quick once over. The city is as it was 8 years ago, the burning basins that sit in front of Candleherth hall, the alleyways that lead to the different areas of the city. Warmth and hate fills my heart at the sight of this place. "Where is the boss meeting us?" I finally manage to ask Murh.

"He said it would be in the barracks of the palace of the kings" Nodding quickly I follow him up the stairs towards the palace of the kings. We slip effortlessly through the main hall of the palace, no one is in the room. Passing through the barracks door we follow the long corridor down twists and turns until we finally reach the staircase down to the rooms. The place is dimly lit with only one person in sight.

"So what took you two so long" The person asks from the far end of the room.

"We got into a bit of a predicament in Whiterun" Murh answers.

"Hmph, what happened?" I speak up to answer this time.

"We went to warn the Jarl about an incoming dragon attack, expecting a reward, but things changed and we were put in jail" as I finish explaining the person stands up and walks over to me. I lower my head, but instead of getting yelled at he pulls me into a big hug. "Well it's good to see you in one piece lass" I chuckle at the man's child like behavior towards me.

"As if they could keep a true thief in their crummy prisons Brynjolf" Murh jokes from behind me.

"Indeed friend, indeed" Brynjolf turns away grabbing a sack from behind him. "Here lass, your outfit you asked for" he tosses me the bag, I grab it in the air and open it. Dark black thieves guild armor sits within.

"Thank you Bryn, I have been so tired of wearing these petty bandits clothing"

"Well you do look pretty silly in those outfits" He motions to Murh and I's cloth hats and basic tunic.

"Hey these were her idea, not mine!" Murh protests in defense. Brynjolf rolls his eyes, and leans back against a wall.

"So, why did we need to meet here Bryn? Why couldn't we just meet back up in Riften?" I asked him the question that nagged me.

"Because this place has a good stash of items of value for us" He winked at me.

"So what you're telling me that really you just wanted to meet us here for a robbery?" I placed my hands on my hips looking quizzically at him. He doesn't answer me, just points to the bag in my hand. Rolling my eyes I reach inside the bag and pull out my armor, shake it at him and walk behind a screened bed farther down. I remove the con clothes and exchange them with the thieves armor. Pulling the black hood up I walk out from behind the screen.

"Looking good lass, now lets go make some coin" I nod and follow Murh and Brynjolf up and out of the barracks. Motioning towards the door across the way I split from Bryn and Murh and head along the shadowed wall. The door makes no noise as we creep into the stairway heading up.

"You take the right door Murh, and you Bryn take the left" They nod in agreement and head off into their directions. _**The Jarl's chambers should be right up this staircase. He should have plenty of valuable things. Should I feel bad for robbing my home city?**_ The thought makes me pause. _**No. I can't feel bad. My past is my past and I need to live in my line of work. ..if i believe that though..why did I purposefully send Brynjolf to Ulfric's room..Don't think about it. Just do your job.**_ I shake my head of the thought and continue up the stairs. _**Move quickly, work quietly. Shadows hide me**_ _._ I grasp the cold metal ring of the door and push it open, the low, slow, breathing in the room signaled a good to go. I moved on forward into the welcoming darkness praying for forgiveness.


	8. Unbelievable: Chapter 8

"No.." was all I could manage as I stared down at the figure in front of me. His golden locks sat in a mess on his pillow, some stubble lined his chin, his breath coming out in slow drawn out streams. I reached out my hand. _**Don't do it. Don't touch him. You'll wake him!**_ I screamed at myself. Unable to stop myself I touched his face gently, the warmth becoming one with my own. I yanked away as I heard the yells from the stairway.

"Stop that thief!" a guard.

"FUCK THIS RUN!" I heard Murh yell, things crashing followed his voice.

"Get out now!" Brynjolf Yelled up the stairs to me. Ulfric stirred and sat up. My eyes widened as I turned and made for the door, a dagger wizzed by my face, hitting my cheek before embedding itself into the door frame in front of me. I stared a moment before dashing for the stairs. "Hurry lass, lets go!" Bryn grabbed my arm tossing me farther ahead of him.

"They are getting away hurry!" another guard yelled as we dashed down the stairs towards the door to the main hall. Murh shoved the door open fast and ran into the room, I crashed into him as he abruptly stopped right in the middle of the room. Bryn stopped himself before he hit me as well. My gaze traveled across the room, guards stood at every door to our freedom. My hand lay on the hilt of my sword, Bryjold noticed and leaned over to me.

"Don't lass, not our style" I took a deep breath nodding and releasing the sword. Tension filled the room as we waited for a move. A loud voice boomed from the stair case behind us.

"Well, looks like we've got ourselves a couple of bandits on a little raid" A large burly man in a bear cloak came out from behind us, his axe on his shoulder. "So what did you all get your hands on then?" He steps towards us snatching our loot bags, he begins rummaging through them. I look over at Murh during this time.

"What in the hell happened?" I stare at him.

"I, uh, tried to take the necklace off a woman and she didn't exactly stay asleep" Murh shrugs an apology at me, I sigh and look down at the floor. Off to the right the large man begins pulling out items.

"So you all got some pretty good items, didn't you" He hold up a necklace I had stolen from Ulfrics room. "You must all be pretty sad you didn't make it out" He chuckles loudly.

"Galmar, were the bandits caught?" I hear a voice coming down the stairs, low and powerful.

"Aye, sir, they are here in the main hall" Ulfric comes around the corner from the staircase, a cloak wrapped around his shoulders over the clothes he's changed into. I look away, unable to see that man.

"So you three thought you could rob the Palace of the Kings did you?" He strides into the room, hand behind his back.

"Ulfric, your amulet" Galmar holds out the necklace I had stolen from Ulfrics room. Out of the corner of my eye I see Ulfric take the amulet from Galmar, looking at it with a deep admiration. He places it around his neck before walking over to the three of us.

"Assuming one of you is the ringleader in this half ass attempt of a robbery, would you like to speak up?" He wait expectantly for someone to answer. I don't move or dare speak, Brynjolf's voice breaks the calm.

"Aye, tis me, i'm the leader" He straightens up standing confident and bold. I chuckle on the inside gently shaking my head at the man.

"Well then, you will be put to death for trying to rob such a place, as for your others they will be put in jail for a week's worth of time and return any stolen items they may have taken" My eyes widen beyond belief and I see Brynjolfs face fill with shock. The guards grab ahold of him, he doesn't fight, just stares at Ulfric in the eye. The hands grasp my arms, a feeling i've been getting far to use to lately. The guards pull Murh and I farther from Bryn, I struggle, fighting forwards refusing to move.

"Guards take that hood down, I want you to memorize these bandits faces so you can keep an eye out for them" Grasping at my hood, a guard tries to yank it down. I shake my head furiously, kicking my legs at them the best I can. _**Fus..I am here for your sake..use my power you've been given..come dovahkiin become one with us..**_ The small voice echos in my mind as I struggle, heat begins to burn within my chest, a feeling of swirling flames engulfs my soul and flows up into my throat.

"FUS!" The sound reverberates through the hall, the guards holding me back are whipped away and thrown to the floor. I drop to my knees trying to regain my breath. The silence of the room sits like a cold tomb,

"I..I don't..believe it" Murh whispers quietly from behind me. I turn towards him, looking out from under my hood, begging him to help me. He understand and scrambles over, helping me up to my feet. Brynjolf still clutched in the guards hold has a look of admiration shining in his eyes, I smile feebly. _**What in talos name was that..and that voice? Who was that talking to me? That word though, it's the one I saw in Bleak falls barrow, But it had a meaning now. Whats happening to me?**_

"Let my friend go" I realize it's my own voice that's making the demand. "Now" I swallow back the worry in my throat.

"Sir, I think we shou-" Glamar begins to speak, but Ulfric holds his hand up in silence.

"So, a bandit has been chosen as the Dragonborn, the gods must have quite the sense of humor" Ulfric steps towards me slowly.

"Dragon..born?.." I question his name he's called me.

"You were not aware of who you are? Quite surprising, then again your use of the thu'um did seem inexperienced" He stops in front of me. "You wish for me to free your leader of you silly band of bandits, do you?" I nod shyly. "Well i'm sure we can come to an agreement then. You join our cause and I shall let your friends go" I cast a glance to Brynjolf who shakes his head no, Murh places his hand on my shoulder, I ignore them and nod yes again. "Release their leader" He waves his hand at the guards holding Brynjolf.

"Rin there are other ways i'm sure, you don't have to join them!" Murh yells at me.

"I am not letting him die" I mutter in response. Brynjolf is released from the grip of the men, he walks over to me.

"Lass what do you think you are doing?" he whispers in a low tone to me.

"You will have to play leader for me for a little while longer" I close my eyes.

" Aye, i'll try to do what you would do" His voice works to hid his disappointment.

"Don't you ever get tired of taking over my responsibilities?" I look at him chuckling.

"Lass, you're the best damned leader the guild has the pleasure of working under, it's my honor to help you" His crooked smile makes me smile.

"Thanks Bryn, hurry back to Riften, don't let the others know what happened here just keep their spirits up and keep the coin flowing" He nods in response.

"Leave it to me, hope you come back soon everyone misses you" Smiling goodbye he heads past me. "Are you coming Murh?"

"Go with him back home" I order Murh.

"Actually. I will be staying with Rin, can't leave her on her own, she gets into too much trouble" I hang my head. _**Dammit Murh you know I can't pull rank on you right now or it'll sink us all right now.**_ Brynjolf nods in understanding and heads out the doors of the palace of the kings. I stand there with, Murh behind me, in front of Galmar and Ulfric. All at once a mighty rumble begins to shake the room around us.

"DO-VAH-KIIN! A faint yell echos in the room around us, it rocks my soul. As fast as it happened it's over.

"So the greybeards had heard her call" Ulfric speaks after the room has calmed.

"Doesn't that mean she must answer their call?" Galmar questions Ulfric.

"She will under my order. And Galmar and I will be accompanying you so you don't try and run off" Ulfric turns and head away befores stopping. "You will need to get ready for the journey, talk to my steward" With that Ulfric and Galmar head out of the room.

"I'm coming with" Murh's stern voice causes me to turn to him.

"I don't think you should, it sounds like a complicated mission"

"Well that's too bad, you can't get rid of me that easily" I roll my eyes.

"Yes well I knew that fact all too well already"

"Hello I am the palace's steward, Jorleif. I am supposed to help you ready yourself for your journey" A slightly brawny man with a handlebar mustache approaches me.

"Oh, uh, yes. I'll be needing potions and a new weapon" I manage through my jumbled thoughts.

"Any potions in particular? And a specific weapon you have your eyes on?"

"Healing potions mainly please, and swords?" I shrug.

"I'll get you what we have and be back shortly" Jorleif heads towards a door on the far side of the wall.

"So you're wearing your guild armor I take it?" Murh asks me.

"Yeah, better than what they would probably try to give me" Tip my head sideways a bit in thought.

"Agreed, you're going with dual wielding i'm assuming from you saying swords'"

"Yup, I don't quite think if we needed to fight i'd need a shield, not my style"

"What happened to you other blade?" He asks, I pull out the long weapon and hold it out.

"Remember during the fight with the frostbite spider? Well when it got knocked away it caused a large crack down the blade, amazed I was even able to stab the damned thing with it"

"Well, all our weapons die at some point" He points out, I nod in agreement. The shuffling behind me has me turning around.

"Here are all healing potions I could find" Jorleif dumps at least 12 healing potions into my hands, my eyes widen at all them and I quickly kneel down to open my knapsack and place them all inside. I stand up to find Jorleif holding out two iron blades for me. They shine even in the dim light, the hilt has an engraving of a bear on it. I gasp at their beauty and take them in my hands, backing away from Murh and Jorleif I take a few practice swings with the blades. A smooth sharp edge cuts the air with a gentle wizzing noise. As I bring the blades down, Jorleif comes up and places the sheaths around my waist. Sliding the swords back into their homes I look up at Murh. The steady thudding of feet signal that Ulfric and Galmar are coming back.

"Well, let's get on with this journey so we can get back to mischief faster"


	9. Lessons to learn: Chapter 9

Flurries of snow twirled down onto my hood. I shook it gently, cleaning off the buildup of white every few minutes. My gaze passed across the extensive snowy landscape, Galmar strood ahead of the rest of us, leading the charge. Murh walked was right in front of me, insisting he had to be my shield.

"Dragonborn I must speak with you" Ulfric's voice from behind me startled me, I slowed my pace and waved Murh on as he turned to try and join me. I attempted to keep in step with Ulfric as I walked next to him. He was taller than me, always had been. "How long have you know about you gift?" I stare down at the ground biting my lip, I only shrug in response. "You didn't know about it did you?" His voice becomes a soothing tone, I nod quickly. _**What is wrong with me? I can sweet talk almost any person into getting what I want. I run the friekin thieves guild, and yet. I can't find any words to talk to this man**_ I sigh inwardly as he continues. "Do you know who they Greybeards are?" I pick my brain trying to remember anything I can about them.A small picture begins to form in my mind.

" _Right up there on the throat of the world Sayrin, that's where they live" I lean against Ulfrics shoulder staring off into the snowy mountains._

" _Why do they live so far from everyone else?" I stare up at him, wide brown eyes filled with questioning. He tips his head up thinking._

" _Father says it's because they belong somewhere away from the troubles of common man, they are a race all their own practically"_

" _Why do you have to go?" I place a hand on his knee begging for answers._

" _Because I have a strong voice they say. My speech would be best if put to test with the Greybeards" I grip his knee._

" _But you'll be gone for a long time won't you?" My voice begins to crack as I speak, he only gives me a nod. "Well, then if you're gonna leave me, I expect you to come back as the best master of the voice ever" I nod quickly trying to make myself feel better, even though the tears are building up fast. I blink trying to force them away, but they instead make their way down my cheeks, Ulfics hand reaches out and gently wipes them away._

" _Don't cry Sayrin, I promise i'll learn as quick as I can so I can come back home to you faster" I force a smile and hug him._

The memory fades away as wind slaps my face. I shiver uncontrollably and mumble quietly. "Yes, I know who they are"

"Good, do you know why I am taking you there?" I nod in response again. "May I ask who taught you of the Greybeards?" His question catches me a bit off guard.

"A,uh..friend" I manage carefully "Why do you ask?"

"It's not common that redguards know of our nord legends" My throat clenches. _**You always were able to decipher who a person was pretty quickly.**_ I smile to myself.

"Why didn't you stay with the Greybeards?" I can't stop myself, the question slips out. He stops walking, I hold my breath.

"Didn't think you'd know of that either, it's rarely known by folk. But in answer to your question, I saw a plight of my fellow nords that I believed required my leadership, so I returned home" He clears his throat "Your expanse of knowledge of skyrim is more than i've know from your race" I clutch my hood tighter as my face begins to turn red with happy embarrassment "Yet you're a bandit, that seems strange that you cooperate so willingly, aren't you supposed to care only for yourself" My mind swirls with thoughts, I finally clear my throat lightly before speaking.

"We aren't bandits Jarl Ulfric, we are thieves, we have more structure than the common bandit" He nods his head understanding now. "You speak of bandits though with more than a normal disparity"

"Besides stealing from any folk they please as well as killing anyone in their path, they have caused different quarrels with me" He stops talking about it for a moment. "Any ways we must continue on, come now dragonborn we must get you to high hrothgar" He picks up his pace forcing me to prance after him as best I can.

Low lit candles cast shadows across the dark stone walls. A man in a long grey robe approaches me. Murh, Galmar and Ulfric stand behind me in waiting. The gravely voice comes from the man.

"Welcome dragonborn" The man bows before me. "I am Arngeir, come this way please" He motions me to follow him into a wider open area of the room. Three other greybeards stand in places in the room. "Please, demonstrate your thu'um on me" My throat clenches up at the thought of shouting at this old man. He must see the worry in my eyes because he speaks again. "Don't fret Dragonborn, your shout will not hurt me" He nods, standing before me. I close my eyes searching for the word. "Let the word flow through you dragonborn, speak it and it will become a mighty shout" My mouth feels dry as I find the word in my mind, once more the warmth fills my soul, not as intense this time it flows up and rolls off my tongue.

"FUS!" I don't say it very loud, but yet the instant it leaves my mouth it becomes a whirl of power, Arngeir stagger slightly, but does not fall.

"So it is you, we have heard stories of the dragon born, but had not imagined we would ever experience the honor of meeting one. No doubt your appearance is appropriate, with dragons appearing in Skyrim" He stops and looks behind me at my group of escorts, shaking his head he continues talking. "Of course we shall teach you of what we have studied for ourselves. We will start with 'ro'. go to Master Einarth, you must hear the word before you can speak it" The greybeard who I now know as Einarth steps forwards from the bunch. The words slip from his mouth effortlessy and mark the floor. I step forward and read the words in my head, whispering them silently.

"Master Einarth will share his understanding of "ro" with you" A power overtook my mind as a stream of light came from Einarth. As it had with fus, ro took a meaning within my mind.

"Demonstrate your power to us Dragonborn" Arngeir motions to the area in front of me as a spectral is summoned. My blood surges as a dragons instincts take over, I want to attack it.

"Fus Ro!" The shout flows from my mouth and hits the spectral, tossing it aside and causing it to vanish. Exhaustion fills my mind as I sway a bit while standing, I hear Murh make a move to help me, but I hold my hand up for him to stay put.

"Very good dragonborn, we will now test your ability to learn a completly new shout. Please follow master Borri out the courtyard." The greybeards begin heading up the stairs to go to the courtyard. I turn towards my travling group.

"Will you all just be standing here waiting?" I motion to their little huddle that it looks like they have made. Murh look next to him and procceds to scoot over away from them a bit.

"I shall go with the Dragonborn" Ulfric speaks finally walking towards me. "Galmar, keep an eye on that one" Galmar nods to Ulfric before looking at Murh with a confused stare.

"Why don't I come with?" Murh sounded hurt, but before I could answer Ulfric spoke up.

"If something goes wrong out there kid then you'd probably get torn to shreds" I saw Murh stiffen at Ulfric calling him kid, but he stayed put. Turning away from them, Ulfric followed me out to the courtyard where the greybeards waited.


End file.
